Can I afford it? Probably not. Was it tasty? Yes!
January 31, 2006, 6:10 PM
I went over to Martin’s after work to buy dinner, and again got the self-scan contraption to play with. It was also a heck of a lot less crowded over there this time, and so it was easier to navigate through the store.
This time, instead of a full-size shopping cart, I got a two-tiered shopping cart. Those basically look like this:
Image from Cart Wranglers
I personally think it looks like a walker for persons with disabilities, but it is definitely more nimble than the regular-sized shopping carts, and is quite easy to steer with one hand, for I, for some reason, prefer to drive shopping carts one-handed.
Let me tell you… Martin’s is SO much the yuppie grocery store. This is similar to when we had a Harris Teeter in Waynesboro back in the mid-1990s. That Harris Teeter store became a Kroger in the late 1990s, and aside from new cash wraps and Kroger merchandise, nothing else changed in converting the store. The store still looks like and is laid out like a Harris Teeter store from the time of its construction inside and out. And I personally think that as a Kroger, that store’s gone right down the toilet. The store’s starting to look run down, and the bathrooms are kind of gross.
But I digress. That Harris Teeter was ahead of its time, and I think that’s why Harris Teeter pulled out and the store became a Kroger. Waynesboro wasn’t ready for an upscale grocery store yet.
So at Martin’s, I bought myself dinner. I got some stuff off their hot bar, and their salad bar. I got some eggplant parmesan, some kind of mashed-up corn thing, and a salad. Not too shabby. All of it sold by the pound. So I weighed it, printed my labels, zapped it with the scanner gun, and bagged it in my little two-tiered cart.
Having eaten it at home, it was good. A little on the pricey side, but it was downright tasty.
I also got gas at the pumps for $2.19 a gallon. As expected, Ladd Convenience Store down US 340 has matched them. So have Hess and Raceway on US 250. The two nearest gas stations, however – 7-Eleven (selling Citgo) and Exxon, are a LOT higher than Martin’s. I tell you, though – it looks like Martin’s is my answer for cheap gas near where I work. I won’t go to any premium brand like Exxon, Citgo, BP, etc. I will fill up on the cheapest gas I can find. Cheap is good. I will sometimes even call around to inquire on the price of petrol before I go out. So there you go.
So all in all, not a bad dinner, though not one I can afford to repeat too often.
Web site: Cart Wranglers - Herding the silver buffalo
Song: Supertramp's "Dreamer"
Quote: BTW, I went through the self-checkout with the handheld device with no problems this time, and didn't have to chase off any of the employees for trying to give me unwanted assistance.
Categories: Martin's, Shopping, Waynesboro